General Information about Kansas and Missouri unemployment benefits

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As our country deals with the effects of and responses to COVID-19, many employees are being forced to stay home. While many employees are able to complete the essential functions of their jobs at home, a large number of American employees have jobs that require their physical presence. If you are in a state, county, or city that has issued stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus and are unable to perform your job, you are likely concerned about your ability to pay your bills.

Kansas Unemployment and Missouri Unemployment benefits are designed to work as a temporary parachute for those employees who are unable to work or had their hours reduced because of certain, qualifying circumstances. Those circumstances are slightly different between Missouri and Kansas. If you are in a situation where no work is available because your employer was required to temporarily shut down operations due to the corona virus, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits.

The unemployment websites for each state provide all the information an employee would need in order to apply for unemployment benefits in these strange, uncertain, and difficult times. 

Generally, eligibility for unemployment benefits requires:

      a) Unemployment resulted through qualifying circumstances;

      b) The employee has earned a minimum amount of wages before unemployment            began;

      c) The employee must be able and available to work, actively seeking new employment.

Qualifying Circumstances

Missouri and Kansas use slightly different standards for when an employee’s discharge from employment allows the employee to receive benefits. This is true even though the term used is identical: “misconduct.”

Kansas – Kansas Statute § 44-706(b)(1) defines “misconduct” as “a violation of a duty or obligation reasonably owed to the employer as a condition of employment.” Most commonly, this would be when an employee violates a written rule or policy of the employer. So long as the employee knew (or should have known) of the rule, the rule is lawful, and the rule is consistently enforced, violation of that rule qualifies as misconduct sufficient to bar the employee from receiving unemployment benefits. If the employer does not have sufficient work for the employee, that would not constitute “misconduct.” The full definition is available here.

Missouri – Missouri Statute § 288.030(23), has a lengthy definition of “misconduct.” Generally, conduct demonstrating a “knowing disregard of the employer’s interest or expected standards.” Again, this generally in the form of written work place rules, policies, or procedures, but not always. For example, stealing need not be a written policy but would still constitute “misconduct” under the statute. Again, a lack of work or the ability to operate the business is not within the definition of “misconduct.” The full definition is available here. 

Minimum Wages Earned

Missouri and Kansas also have different formulas for determining whether an employee has earned the minimum amount of wages to qualify for unemployment benefits. Generally each state requires that you have worked enough “qualifying hours” to receive benefits. This will also, to some extent, determine the amount of weekly benefits you will receive. The hours don’t have to be at the same employer, but if an employee had not worked for several months, then just gotten a new job prior to being laid off, the employee would probably not get benefits due to insufficient qualifying hours. This is true even if the employee was discharged under otherwise qualifying circumstances. To see the specifics for each state, click on its name below:

                                            Kansas                            Missouri 

Actively Seeking Employment

Finally, an employee has to seek new employment throughout the time he or she is receiving unemployment benefits. Missouri and Kansas both impose weekly work search requirements. These generally require that the discharged employee seeking benefits (or already receiving benefits) report sufficient attempts at finding work. These requirements can be rather demanding, and tend to focus on the number of applications submitted, rather than the type of jobs being sought. 

An exception to this requirement in the state of Missouri is when there is a scheduled recall date of employees that is within eight weeks of the temporary lay-off. Depending on how your employer deals with the current events and the mandatory closings, a recall date provided by your employer may affect the requirement for actively seeking employment.

Kansas and Missouri have both provided updates to their respective Department of Labor websites regarding seeking and obtaining unemployment benefits. Below are a few helpful links to help you navigate the unemployment waters. 

Kansas:

- KS Dept. of Labor - COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions - https://www.getkansasbenefits.gov/NewsAndUpdates.aspx?NewsID=77

- Unemployment Insurance Benefits Information Guide - https://www.getkansasbenefits.gov/Files/PDF/kbenp0950.pdf

Missouri:

- MO Dept. of Labor - COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions - https://labor.mo.gov/coronavirus

- Unemployment Insurance Benefits Basic Facts and Procedures - https://labor.mo.gov/sites/labor/files/pubs_forms/M-INF-288-5-AI.pdf

In addition to potential financial support at the state level, the United States government recently passed, and President Trump signed into law, H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to address concerns regarding temporary unemployment resulting from COVID 19. The provisions of that bill go into effect 15 days after the date of enactment which is April 2, 2020. The following link directs you to the Department of Labor which provides necessary information regarding the terms of H.R. 6201: 

- https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-lea